With the turn of the century, Lawyers' Mutual Insurance Company(LMIC) entered a fourth decade as the only California-based company providing lawyers throughout the state with continuous professional liability coverage.

Our history

In the mid-1970s, a number of insurance companies in California were selling under-priced legal malpractice policies. It was also a time of increasing litigation, rapidly contributing to a growing number of legal malpractice suits. Before long, burgeoning malpractice claims started to cost these liability carriers serious money, and many responded by abruptly discontinuing their legal malpractice programs. It was an alarming trend that abandoned thousands of lawyers to an insurance market in which no liability carrier could be counted on to provide reliable and continuous coverage for California lawyers.

The State Bar of California viewed the situation as a crisis of the first magnitude, both for lawyers and their clients - all functioning without appropriate protection. California desperately needed a legal malpractice carrier capable of weathering any storm. It was clear that the company filling this tall order would have to educate its policyholders in order to help reduce the incidence of malpractice claims. It would also need to charge responsible premiums sufficient to meet current and future financial obligations to policyholders.

Out of this pressing need, Lawyers' Mutual was born. LMIC was to be a "mutual" company whose policyholders would be member/owners - investing in and benefiting from the company's stability. In 1979, LMIC issued its first policy. By the mid-1980s, LMIC insured more than a third of California's lawyers, most of whom had been left high and dry when other malpractice carriers fled the market.

From the outset, we established a unique relationship with our policyholders. We were creating a California company for lawyers, directed by California lawyers. If you contacted LMIC, you could speak directly with an officer of the company... and that remains true today. We also offered superior loss prevention and continuing legal education to our members long before MCLE became a mandatory requirement of the State Bar. Most importantly, LMIC was here to stay.

Eventually, the malpractice crisis passed. The number of claims leveled out, but under-priced liability carriers slowly began to creep back into the market. Again, California lawyers watched a new round of companies come and go, but this time LMIC was there.

We are proud of those lawyers who saw the value of LMIC membership and the wisdom of starting....and sticking....with Lawyers' Mutual.